Yankees’ Andrew McCutchen talks about being taken out by the Turf Monster at Tropicana Field

September 29, 2018

The Turf Monster at Tropicana Field got the best of Andrew McCutchen on Tuesday night.

With the Yankees leading the Rays 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth, McCutchen hit the turf hard as he turned and raced to the wall on Brandon Lowe’s double.

The only thing Cutch hurt was his ego, and that seemed barely bruised as he joked about the tumble in an Instagram story posted after the win.

“Tropicana Field. Turf Monster. Alright, let’s talk about it,” the veteran outfielder who joined the Yankees via trade at the end of August said in the social media video.

“The ball’s hit, I turn my back and start running back toward the wall, right. Just trying to get back. That’s all I’m trying to do, like any other day.

“I take my eye off the wall, look at the ball and I look back up and before you know it I am on the ground. I don’t mean one of those you slip and fall and kind of catch yourself and you fall down. No, you had to let this fall take its course. You ever had one of those real bad falls where you just like ‘Oh well, this one just gonna hurt.’ For real, it happened in slow motion. I mean it was like I was going down and my feet gave out and I hit the ground and I kind of spun around and I was just like ‘Man, this is gonna be on “SportsCenter” Not Top 10.'”

“I was just laid out on the ground, right, and I’m just thinking the whole time, I’m facing the wall, the ball is coming ‘Please don’t hit me.’ Luckily it didn’t. It hit the top of the wall. I was just gonna stay on the ground and crawl around like it was Fortnite and someone sniped me from the catwalk. Like Gardy (centerfielder Brett Gardner), do the thing – revive me – get me back up, man. But I got back up and threw the ball back in and then I couldn’t help but laugh at myself because it was funny. Fans got a chuckle out of it. Might as well chuckle at myself.

“And that’s it. That’s basically what happened. So the moral of this story is pick your feet up or you are gonna end up on the ground sniped like it was Fortnite. You better hope someone can revive you.”

Andrew McCutchen jokes about his misadventure’s in left field at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night. (Brian Blanco / Getty Images)

Given the Yankees second-half injury woes, it has been McCutchen who has helped revive the Bombers. After filling in for Aaron Judge in right field while the young star missed time with a chip fracture in his wrist, Cutch has taken over left field duties from Gardner since Judge’s return. Despite a .233 batting average, McCutchen has 5 homers, 9 RBI and 17 hits in 22 games since the deal with the Giants. He has reached base in 20 of those games.